The BAFTAs One-Up the Oscars by Getting Serious About Diversity

The BAFTAs have taken a vital step toward ensuring diversity among the winners at future awards shows. On Tuesday, the film institution announced new rules for two categories at its upcoming ceremonies, outlining fresh requirements that films and filmmakers must meet if they want to even be considered for nominations.

According to the new changes, all potential nominees in two British film categories—Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer—must now meet at least two of four B.F.I. Diversity Standards. In order to receive a nomination, entries must prove that they have supported under-represented groups in at least two of these four areas: on-screen representation, themes, and narratives; project leadership and creative practitioners; industry access and opportunities; and opportunities for diversity in audience development. Last year’s winners in these categories were Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Rungano Nyoni for I Am Not a Witch, respectively. The new rules, which will take effect in 2019, were originally announced in 2016, a year after the #OscarsSoWhite conversation began dominating Hollywood’s awards cycle across the pond.

In a statement, Marc Samuelson, the chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said that he was “immensely proud of BAFTA’s commitment to diversity across all its activities which support an open, accessible, and inclusive industry. By embracing these standards for awards recognition we can build on the work already being done to improve representation, whilst maintaining BAFTA’s standards of excellence for British film.”

The new rules mark a step in the right direction, following the American film Academy’s decision two years ago to drastically change up its own rules for Oscar-voting membership. In addition, the Academy has also widened its membership pool by inviting scores of new potential participants, focusing on bringing in a wider, more inclusive swath of potential voters. While the crux of the film industry’s diversity issues still lies with studios and moviemakers—diverse stars can’t win awards for roles that don’t exist in the first place, after all—both the BAFTAs and the Oscars are showing how awards ceremonies can impact and break the chain, instead of maintaining the status quo.

The BAFTAs, however, have upped the ante with these new requirements. Now, moviemakers who want to be recognized by this Academy must keep diversity, in some form, in mind throughout the process of making their films. In that way, BAFTA’s new rules are fairly wide-ranging and generous, and designed to bake inclusivity into every step of the process. For example: even if a film isn’t terribly inclusive on screen, its makers can still meet the requirements by supporting organizations that focus on providing industry access to under-represented groups that aspire to work in the movie business, and by ensuring that the film reaches underserved audiences, per the B.F.I.’s F.A.Q. sheet. Next year’s awards ceremony, when the rules take effect, will be the first test for the British film industry as it embarks on this new era.

November 29, 1934

This Westminster Abbey wedding—between the Queen’s uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark—is where she and the eventual Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, met. She was 8, and he was 14.

Photo: From Haynes Archive/Popperfoto/Getty Images.

May 6, 1960

Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey. (She didn’t serve as a bridesmaid; queens are not other people’s attendants.) It was the first British royal wedding to be televised, and for the occasion, royal designer Norman Hartnell made her a turquoise gown with a bolero jacket to match.

Photo: By Derek Berwin/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

June 8, 1961

The Queen wore a deep blush dress with matching hat and duster to the wedding of her cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at York Minster.

Photo: From Popperfoto/Getty Images.

April 24, 1963

The popular Princess Alexandra of Kent is the Queen’s first cousin and served as a bridesmaid in Her Majesty’s wedding when she was 10. (And before Princess Elizabeth became Queen, the two were bridesmaids together in the wedding of Captain Lord Brabourne and Patricia Mountbatten.) Alexandra married the Honorable Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey.

Photo: From Popperfoto/Getty Images.

April 29, 2011

Angela Kelly and team designed the Queen’s pale yellow, crepe-wool dress and matching hat for Kate Middleton and Prince William’s wedding. A particularly great feature is the pleats that resemble sunrays emanating from the collar, so Elizabeth looked like some kind of sun Queen.

Photo: By Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images.

July 30, 2011

The Queen chose the rare pale-pink look for her granddaughter Zara Phillips’s wedding to the English rugby player Mike Tindall in Edinburgh.

Photo: By David Hartley/Rupert Hartley/REX/Shutterstock.

June 25, 2016

And yet, she chose a similar look that’s subtly different for the wedding of Alexandra Knatchbull, great-granddaughter of the Queen’s cousin, Earl Mountbatten, and Thomas Hooper. Congratulations to the couple and to the Queen’s many successes as a very important wedding guest.

Photo: By David Hartley/REX/Shutterstock.

November 29, 1934

This Westminster Abbey wedding—between the Queen’s uncle, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina, daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark—is where she and the eventual Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, met. She was 8, and he was 14.

From Haynes Archive/Popperfoto/Getty Images.

May 6, 1960

Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey. (She didn’t serve as a bridesmaid; queens are not other people’s attendants.) It was the first British royal wedding to be televised, and for the occasion, royal designer Norman Hartnell made her a turquoise gown with a bolero jacket to match.

By Derek Berwin/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

June 8, 1961

The Queen wore a deep blush dress with matching hat and duster to the wedding of her cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at York Minster.

From Popperfoto/Getty Images.

April 24, 1963

The popular Princess Alexandra of Kent is the Queen’s first cousin and served as a bridesmaid in Her Majesty’s wedding when she was 10. (And before Princess Elizabeth became Queen, the two were bridesmaids together in the wedding of Captain Lord Brabourne and Patricia Mountbatten.) Alexandra married the Honorable Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey.

From Popperfoto/Getty Images.

November 14, 1973

The Queen plays mother of the bride at the wedding of her only daughter, Princess Anne, to Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips at Westminster Abbey. Her Majesty wore a royal-blue number with diamond-shaped details from—guess who?—Sir Norman Hartnell.

By Anwar Hussein/Getty Images.

October 20, 1979

She put a pin in her typical matching outfit to do a color-blocked coat and turban for the wedding of Prince Charles’s Gordonstoun classmate Norton Knatchbull at Romsey Abbey.

By Tim Graham/Getty Images.

July 29, 1981

The Queen’s mother-of-the-groom outfit for Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding featured one of her favorite brooches. The 23.6-carat pink diamond in the middle was a wedding gift from Dr. John Williamson, a Canadian who owned the Tanzanian mine where the diamond was found. She had Cartier design and make the brooch in 1953, and has worn it for special occasions, including several more weddings, ever since.

From Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock.

July 23, 1986

Once again, the Queen plays mother of the groom for Prince Andrew’s wedding to Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey, this time in lilac and pearls.

From Historia/REX/Shutterstock.

July 30, 1988

Her Majesty wears the rare patterned coat and dress to the wedding of James Ogilvy—son of the Queen’s cousin Princess Alexandra of Kent, the Honorable Lady Ogilvy—and Julia Rawlinson at St. Mary the Virgin Church. Though she’s a guest at someone else’s wedding, Queen Elizabeth is bound to stand out. As Caroline de Guitaut, the curator at the Royal Collection Trust, told The New York Times in 2016, “The Queen has always been aware that she needs to stand out from the crowd, and it is for this reason that millinery has always played an important role in her wardrobe.” She added that the hats, like the one above, are strategic, and made to ensure that “her face is fully visible, but also framed in a range of styles over the years that were often considered very avant-garde for their day.”

By Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images.

December 12, 1992

The Queen may have had only one daughter, but she had two chances to be M.O.B. Anne re-married in the 90s to Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence at Crathie Kirk. For the occasion, the Queen matched the tartan in head-to-knees emerald.

From RA/REX/NRE/REX/Shutterstock.

October 8, 1993

Speaking of hats that show off the Queen’s face, she wore this upturned salmon pink one by Philip Somerville to her nephew Viscount Linley’s wedding to the Honorable Serena Stanhope. The brooch she wore to Diana’s wedding makes another appearance.

By Michael Floyd/Daily Mail /REX/Shutterstock.

July 14, 1994

One of the Queen’s clear favorites, Princess Margaret’s daughter and her niece, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, married Daniel Chatto at a small ceremony of only 200 at St. Stephen Walbrook. (The church, a small 17th-century building in London, was supposedly chosen to keep the wedding party intimate.)

From REX/Shutterstock.

July 1, 1995

On the opposite end of extravagance to Lady Sarah’s wedding was the nuptials of Prince Pavlos to Marie-Chantal Miller. Nearly the entire royal family attended their ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Sophia in London. The pre-wedding dinner dance boasted 1,300 guests, and the reception involved a garden party with a tent that looked like the Acropolis. For the occasion, the queen wore lilac.

By Tim Graham/Getty Images.

November 7, 1998

The Queen wore banana yellow to the wedding of Timothy Knatchbull and Isabella Norman, which she attended with Princess Margaret, who wore all green. She also chose a pearl and diamond brooch that once belonged to Queen Mary, and was passed down from Mary’s grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge. Yes, it’s the Duchess of Cambridge brooch. (No word yet if it will be passed on to its current namesake.) Queen Mary wore it as a necklace to Elizabeth’s christening, as well as to Charles’s christening in 1948.

By Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock.

June 19, 1999

Once again the mother of the groom, Queen Elizabeth broke out of her suit habit and wore a lilac dress to the wedding of her youngest son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, to Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. By now, she had been working with Angela Kelly, a dress maker and milliner, who became the personal assistant to the Queen in 2002, and has made, commissioned, or curated the Queen’s wardrobe ever since.

By Tim Graham/Getty Images.

November 6, 2004

A royal purple for the wedding of Lady Tamara Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, and Edward van Cutsem. Edward is a friend of William, and Edward’s dad, Hugh, was a friend of Prince Charles.

By Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock.

April 9, 2005

Prince Charles and Camilla were married before this photo was taken, which is from the reception. The Queen skipped the ceremony, since both her son and Camilla were divorcées and she is the head of the Church of England.

From ROTA-Pool/Getty Images.

May 17, 2008

Prince Harry kisses his grandmother on the cheek at her grandson Peter Phillips’s wedding to Autumn Kelly at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor. The silk brocade coat and dress are by Angela Kelly, as is the thin crown of feathers. The headpiece is an unusual look for the Queen, but it abides by her main rules for headwear: out of her face and locked in, so her hands are free for waving.

By Sang Tan/AFP/Getty Images.

April 29, 2011

Angela Kelly and team designed the Queen’s pale yellow, crepe-wool dress and matching hat for Kate Middleton and Prince William’s wedding. A particularly great feature is the pleats that resemble sunrays emanating from the collar, so Elizabeth looked like some kind of sun Queen.

By Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images.

July 30, 2011

The Queen chose the rare pale-pink look for her granddaughter Zara Phillips’s wedding to the English rugby player Mike Tindall in Edinburgh.

By David Hartley/Rupert Hartley/REX/Shutterstock.

June 25, 2016

And yet, she chose a similar look that’s subtly different for the wedding of Alexandra Knatchbull, great-granddaughter of the Queen’s cousin, Earl Mountbatten, and Thomas Hooper. Congratulations to the couple and to the Queen’s many successes as a very important wedding guest.